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R E S E A R CH A R T I C L E
Nexus of circular economy R0 to R9 principles in integrated
reporting: Insights from a multiple case study comparison
Sarfraz Nazir | Federica Doni
Department of Business & Law, University of
Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Correspondence
Federica Doni, Department of Business & Law,
University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
Email: federica.doni@unimib.it
Funding information
No funding was received to assist with the
preparation of this manuscript.
Abstract
Over recent years, the Circular Economy (CE) has turned into a debated area world-
wide as a way of achieving a more sustainable society. However, little is known about
how companies can disclose CE-related activities in their corporate reporting. This
paper aims to explore how and to what extent CE-related information is included in
Integrated Reporting (IR) practices by promoting Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). The study applies qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis
approaches to explore the associations with CE, IR, the six capitals and SDGs. The
institutional theory approach has been adopted to justify incorporating CE
R-principles activities into IR practices. Multiple case study findings demonstrate that
every case company minimum one time cites the CE R principle, while case compa-
nies seen to be more involved in the reduce (R1), reuse (R2) and recycle (R7) are
engaged with IR practices and focussing on SDGs. Whereas coercive, normative, and
mimetic isomorphism mechanism substantially impacts CE activities concerning IR
practices, we can argue that mimetic isomorphisms need further investigation
because no structures and frameworks are available. In terms of managerial implica-
tions, this study proposed a combined framework of CE and IR that provides a con-
ceptual picture of how CE activities intermesh with the IR framework and the six
capitals, both essential for the Sustainable Development (SD) agenda participation
and value creation process of companies.
K E YWORD S
Circular Economy, institutional theory, Integrated Reporting, six capitals, sustainable
development goals
1 | INTRODUCTION
The European Union (EU) has passed several directives stating that,
by the end of 2030, 65% of all municipal waste and 75% of all
packaging waste should be recycled (European Commission, 2015a),
resulting in a reduction of landfill by 10%. The Waste Directive
Framework (EU, 2019; European Commission, 2008) refers to Circular
Economy (CE) related activities (particularly the ‘R0 to R9-Rs —
Abbreviations: CE, circular economy; CE R, circular economy R; CSRD, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive; EEA, European Environment Agency; EMF, Ellen MacArthur Foundation;
EP&L, Environmental Profit and Loss Accounting; EU, European Union; GHG, greenhouse gases; IR, integrated reporting; IIRC, International Integrated Reporting Council; NFRD, Non‐Financial
Reporting Directive; R0, refuse; R1, reduce; R2, resell/reuse; R3, repair; R4, refurbish; R5, remanufacture; R6, repurpose/rethink; R7, recycle; R8, recover/energy; R9, remine; PSS, product‐
service system; SD, sustainable development; SDGs, sustainable development goals; UN, United Nations; UNFCC, United Nations Framework on Climate Change.
Received: 4 May 2023 Revised: 6 November 2023 Accepted: 28 December 2023
DOI: 10.1002/bse.3684
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2024 The Authors. Business Strategy and The Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
4058 Bus Strat Env. 2024;33:4058–4085.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/bse
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refuse, reduce, resell/reuse, repair, re-furbish, re-manufacture, repur-
pose/rethink, recycle, recover/ energy, remine) CE involvement has
been increasing in business development, with most big companies
now tending toward CE-related business activities, because CE not
only deals with economic development but also considers the envi-
ronmental and social perspective (Ellen MacArthur Foundation
[EMF], 2020; EU, 2019). This perception refers to those important
practices that are needed for the proper implementation of CE activi-
ties within companies, such as regarding the choice of materials
(inputs), the business models (business activities) and taking control
over the production process to ensure beneficial outputs and out-
comes (Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Reike et al., 2018).
Traditionally, most countries have depended upon a linear eco-
nomic model, referring to a ‘take-make-waste’ framework. With such
a model, materials and resources are used just once, with any waste
ending up in landfills, incinerators, or wastewater. The undesirable
effects have their roots in a linear model that is characterized by the
low level of reuse, repair, recovery and fibre-to-fibre recycling of tex-
tiles, and that often does not place best quality, durability, and recy-
clability as priorities for the redesign and reproduction of garments
(EEA, 2022). The textile sector is still under consideration, suffering
immense pollution problems (by waste gases and wastewater with
chemical compounds) (EEA, 2019, 2022) and enhanced product life-
cycles issues. Moreover, clothing, footwear, and household textiles
found the second-highest rank in land usage, the fifth-highest rank in
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the fourth-highest weight cate-
gory in primary raw materials usage (EEA, 2019, 2022). The results are
a significant loss of natural resources in the shape of waste products
and environmentally reckless, which needs more consideration given
to energy usage, material scarcity, or price variations of natural
resources (EMF, 2020, 2022). Because of the difficulty of recycling
and sorting clothing composed of mixed fibres, technological limita-
tions in the textile sector represent a significant barrier to completing
a fully closed-loop business model (EEA, 2019). The Circular Textiles
and EU strategy for sustainability presents a new approach to harmo-
nizing these objectives. The Strategy implements commitments made
under the European Green Deal, the new CE Action Plan, and the
Industrial Strategy and aims to create a greener, more competitive,
more modern sector, more resistant to global shocks (EEA, 2019,
2022; EMF, 2017; EU, 2019).
The starting point and the motivation of this research are related
to observing what happens daily in our natural world: in detail, the lit-
erature and environmental phenomena demonstrate that we cannot
delay any more CE initiatives. For academics and industries, this
entails supporting companies in launching and managing such initia-
tives, measuring the impacts of the actions, and reporting the key
results to a broad range of stakeholders. A wide literature witnesses
that CE initiatives are actually at the centre of the modern garment
organizations' agenda (Bhuiyan et al., 2023; Bueno-Garcia et al., 2021;
Busco et al., 2013; EC, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c; EU, 2019; Farrukh
et al., 2022; Gunarathne, Lee, & Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021;
Gunarathne, Wijayasundara, et al., 2021; Negash & Lemma, 2020) but
also that further research is needed to explore how (and somehow if)
those initiatives were monitored and communicated to relevant
stakeholders.
By embedding CE activities within companies, sustainability
reporting can play a key role to disclose and challenge corporate
accountability practices for achieving a SD (de Villiers & Dimes, 2022).
In this perspective, the European Union (EU, 2014) has executed aand shoe
fibres]
[sustainable recyclable
materials]
[rethink the multiband
business model]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[resource optimization
results for 1 million
euro saving per year]
Inputs:
[material bio-based
fibres, 27% of
sustainable cotton,
87% recyclable
waste]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[wastewater reused,
packaging recycled
and reused]
[CO2 emission
reduction in stores,
CO2 reduction in
logistics]
[waste production
(87%)], [B-green
sustainable base
product]
Intellectual Rethinking/repurpose
(R6),
Repair (R3), recycling
(R7),
New products with old
parts by adopting
new channels
Inputs:
[strengthen brand and
promotion through
intellectual property]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[all online stores for
the international
community in 2023]
Inputs:
[fast efficient product
flow by using
artificial intelligence
to enhance product
performance,
machine learning]
Outputs and
outcomes: [circular
business model and
rethink and recycling
the fashion and
product]
Inputs:
[explore new
technologies for CE]
[disruptive
technology used in
raw material and
manufacturing
processes]
[Omnichannel
approach]
Outputs and
outcomes: [100%
key raw materials
traceable by 2025]
Inputs:
[digital innovation
(RFID technology,
content factory,
omnichannel
approach, Benetton.
com] [E-commerce,
big data and artificial
intelligence]
Outputs and
outcomes: [eliminate
barriers of online &
offline distribution
channels]
(Continues)
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http://Benetton.com
http://Benetton.com
TABLE 7 (Continued)
Capitals Organization practices M&S H&M Kering Benetton
Human Repurpose (R6),
Employees'
development
Inputs:
[eliminate current and
future market skills
gap by training and
development of
employees] outputs
and outcomes:
[enhancing skills of
employees and
performance]
Inputs:
[wage management
system, 60:40
female: Male BOD
participation,
employees'
development]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[1.6 million jobs
creation, equal and
fair jobs, health and
safety of customers,
workers and
employees, support
fair living wages]
Inputs:
[encourage creativity]
[developing
employees' talent]
Outputs and
outcomes: [gender
equality, recognition
by Thomson Reuters
diversity and
inclusion index,
Bloomberg, gender
equality index]
Inputs:
[Employees' training,
development and
branding]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[commercial
partnerships for
production and
distribution]
Social and
relationships
Remine (R9);
Local authorities and
landowners (in
developing countries
people try to live by
scrapping valuable
materials);
Recover (R8) energy
and waste content
(collector,
municipality, energy
companies, waste
management
processors, local and
national govt.,
international bodies).
Inputs:
[create a relationship
between the
customer and
suppliers]
[supplier best
practices, supplier
responsibilities,
community
donation]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[generate returns from
stakeholders]
[local govt. recycle
policy by 2022 (plan
A)]
[zero waste to landfill
tonnes]
Inputs:
[follow child labour
policy, home
working policy,
global social policy]
[sustainable workplace
standards, post-
consumer waste]
[industrial relations,
civil, political, social
security, economic,
social, health and
cultural rights, (UN,
ILO)]
Outputs and
outcomes: [100%
suppliers code of
ethics]
[safety and security
compliance level of
85%, 100% of
supplier sustainable
commitment]
Inputs:
[environment profit
and loss (EP&L) to
assess the monetary
value]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[84.9% completion of
code of ethics]
Inputs:
[long-term
relationships with
stakeholders, such
as local and global
institutions and
organizations (UN,
ILO)]
Outputs and
outcomes: [supplies
ensure that
wastewater
recovers, long-term
relationships with
stakeholders]
Natural Re-mine (R9),
Free from hazardous
chemicals;
Recover (R8), reverse
logistic, use of
biomass.
Inputs:
[using natural
resources, zero
waste]
[In 2017 33%
decreased carbon
430,000 as
compared with
2006/2007
630,000]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[zero landfills by
operating activities
in the UK and
Ireland since 2012]
[reduce greenhouse
gas emissions plan A
by 80% compared
with 2006/07, by
90% by 2035]
Inputs:
[best chemical
management
practice]
[no discharge of
hazardous chemicals,
technological carbon
sinks]
Outputs and
outcomes: [GHGs
emission reduction,
reduction outside of
GHGs]
[100% recycle and
sustainable material
from chemical
perspectives]
Inputs:
[environmental policy,
10% reduction
between 2015 and
2017 environment
profit and loss
indicators]
Outputs and
outcomes: [40–50%
reduced waste
pollution]
[GHG emissions, land
use, waste, reduced
water consumption
and water pollution
by 2025]
Inputs:
[waste management,
reduction in the use
of chemical
pollutants] [logistics,
reduce carbon
footprint, ZDHC
wastewater
guidelines]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[natural fibres, BCI
(23% of better
cotton initiatives)]
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within the production processes) that impact upon financial returns.
M&S keep to zero waste criteria, reducing packaging, have gained a
return on their investment of energy and reuse 3 million garments
every year. H&M use renewable resources and have thus retained
4 million euro, Kering use a reintegrating approach, utilize organic
materials and have increased financial investments, while Benetton
have reduced natural resource inputs and increased investments. The
main differences between these results highlight how CE can reduce
dependency by supply chain and increase company's performance by
enhancing the benefits from financial investments (Deloitte, 2022).
Manufacturing capital belongs to the business operations area.
M&S use 90% recyclable cotton in their operations and, from 2022,
have plans to recycle all used products. H&M introduced a circular
production model that achieved 92% waste recycling by 2018. Kering
introduced rethinking and renewable manufacturing into its produc-
tion processes. Benetton use bio-based materials in their production
processes, achieving 87% for material recycling, and packaging waste
is reused.
Intellectual capital, identified through research and development,
enables an organization to adjust their tasks, procedures and contribu-
tions. It was seen that all four case study companies are dependent
upon a product development approach for new products or services
through the use of artificial intelligence.
Utilization of human capital refers to those activities, which result
in SD, such as the creative development of employees' talents
(Kering) and employee branding (Benetton).
Social and relationship capital acts to improve public relations and
marketing and raise the brand image. M&S was seen to have devel-
oped its recycling strategy with local governments, while H&M and
Benetton have followed the UN agenda (UN, 2015) to protect social
rights.
Finally, natural capital denotes that production will be free from
hazardous chemicals, waste materials will be recovered, and the car-
bon footprint reduced, and biomass use considered within the pro-
ductionprocesses. M&S reduced their carbon footprint through
production changes, decreasing their GHG emissions by 90%, while
H&M, Kering and Benetton utilized improved technology and carbon
sinks to reduce their emissions.
Table 8 represents the inside practices of the IR frameworks for
the case study companies, identifying four factors (Risk & Opportu-
nity, Strategy & Resource Allocation, Performance and, finally,
Outlook).
Every organization operates with a certain amount of risk and
opportunity. Risk, in particular, influences business capacity over a
company's short-, medium- and long-term operations. M&S, H&M,
Kering and Benetton all have risk management procedures in place to
reduce risk and create opportunities. These case study companies also
use key performance indicators to access business opportunities.
M&S, H&M and Kering all utilize supply chain management for opti-
mized opportunities. However, the case study companies have each
applied different approaches (such as resale, redesign and remanufac-
turing into production), and these opportunities are closely allied to
their CE activities. These strategies identify the respective company's
short-, medium- and long-term plans to meet their objectives and
effectively allocate their resources, which means implementing their
strategies within their limited organizational resources. M&S, Kering
and Benetton all moved forward towards a CE, utilizing renewable
energy, achieving zero landfill targets, and reusing and/or recycling
clothing within their organizations.
Performance indicates those outcomes of the organization which
impact on their past, present, and future performance. These compa-
nies used indicators to evaluate their performance regarding GHG
emission ratios, sales or other financial objectives. Both Kering and
Benetton used artificial intelligence and big data analysis strategies to
develop and achieve sustainable performance.
Outlook refers to each case study company's goals or expecta-
tions which they expect to achieve in the future. M&S plans, by 2025,
to achieve zero waste, use less plastic, have a sustainable supply chain
and fully utilize sustainable packaging materials. Similarly, H&M plans
to reduce its waste to zero, and to introduce a new water roadmap to
reduce the use of water through recycling. Kering plan, by 2025,
to ensure 100% responsible sourcing and traceable materials for use
in their products.
We will now progress to consider SDGs and their relationship
with IR and CE practices.
The UN (2015) SDGs 2030 agenda is harmonized with the CE,
identifying potential challenges through the over-consumption of nat-
ural resources globally (Nishitani et al., 2021). With regard to waste
production, CE practices offer reuse options to address waste man-
agement, which is emerging now in developing nations. If we look at
the CE relationship with the IR capital elements for the case study
companies, M&S, H&M, Kering and Benetton all comply with SDG8
(promoting supported, comprehensive and sustainable financial devel-
opment for a profitable business) and manufacturing capital-related
SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production). Meeting the UN
2030 agenda for SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 9 (Industry, Innova-
tion and Infrastructure), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 13 (Cli-
mate Action), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Solid Institutions) and SDG
17 (Partnerships for the Goals) all demonstrate that the case compa-
nies have a strong relationship with both IR and CE practices. These
four case study companies have also followed SDG 3 (Good Health
and Well-being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 10 (Reduce Ineq-
uities), where all of these practices relate to the IR human capital con-
tent. The CE principle of remining closely relates to the IR social and
relationships content, and all four of the case study companies have
followed and complied with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Commu-
nities), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) that interlink
specifically with SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals/Means of
Implementation).
6 | DISCUSSION
This research demonstrates that state-of-the-art CE R principles are
utilized in the context of the IR framework. To answer the research
question “how and to what extent are multinational garments companies
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TABLE 8 Overview of the inside practices of the IR framework for case study companies.
Practices M&S H&M Kering Benetton
Risk &
opportunities
Risk influences the
capacity of business
and opportunity
refers to value
creation in the
short-, medium- and
long-term.
Optimize
opportunities by
removing extensive
packaging cost; risk
management and
creation of
opportunities,
customer and
people value; risk
analysis and
reporting; example -
monitoring the
Brexit risk.
Recycle 100% of all
materials; risk
management
operations; use low-
risk suppliers; low-
risk sourcing;
measure water
impact and risk
within the stores
and warehouses;
eliminate water-
related challenges;
risk mitigation;
redesign production.
High-quality
sustainable market
and risk-taking; the
creativity of design
through all stages of
R&D; seize
opportunities
through the supply
chain; risk
management
procedures;
rethinking and
exploring economic
opportunities;
develop
technologies to
promote CE.
Strategy, executive,
financial, legal and
external risks; the
common vision of
green-oriented
business toward the
CE; diversity and
equal opportunity to
suppliers.
Strategy and
resource
allocation
CE practices, resource
optimization, waste
products, packaging,
water emission,
product service
model.
Move towards CE;
zero waste,
renewable energy,
waste to landfill
zero, clothes reused
and recycling plan.
Maximize resource
and minimize waste,
95% of cotton use
to be by recycling;
35–45% textile
product from by-
products; 50–60%
from reusable
products, 70% of
products recycled;
100% circular and
renewable strategy;
zero discharge of
hazardous chemicals
(ZDHC); new
circular packaging
strategy; entire
value creation.
Reduce 40%
environmental profit
and loss (EP&L),
50% CO2, 2025
sustainable strategy;
promote organic
growth and enhance
synergies and
integration;
development of
innovative
technology by CE
and biotechnologies.
Waste management
strategy; reduce
chemical pollutants,
logistics, carbon
footprint, ZHDC
wastewater
guidelines; towards
a CE strategy to
design products
(rationalization of
collection, waste
projects, reduction
in use, biobased
fabrics).
Performance The ratio of carbon
emission, water
usage, sustainable
practices and
ranking.
Certified international
social,
environmental and
ethical standards;
more sustainable
business operations;
2016 & 2017 to
rank in knight global
100 most
sustainable
corporations.
Sustainable circular
model, 93% of
electrical energy
was renewable,
2015, 2016, 2017,
2018 to rank in
knight global most
sustainable
corporations.
Sustainable
development
through CE and
long-term economic
performance. Use
artificial intelligence
for sustainable
performance, 2016,
2017, 2018, 2019
to rank in knight
global most
sustainable
corporations.
Sustainable
performance
indicators,
economic, social and
environmental
indicators used for
evaluation of
performance; big
data and artificial
intelligence used in
performance
management.
Outlook Future Plan A 2025(move
towards sustainable
circular business
models); help 10
million people live
happier, help totransform 10,000
communities, goal
of zero waste, less
use of plastics,
sustainable supply
chain, increased
wages, sustainable
The operation to
reduce CO2 by
further 11%; 2040
climate positive
value chain; new
water roadmap for
supply chain until
2022; supply chain
management;
develop 2030 GHS
emission reduction
goals, 100% waste
to be recycled, 2040
2025 plan to ensure
animal welfare,
innovative
sustainable circular
business model;
reduce the
environmental
impact; 2025 plan
to set 100%
responsible sourcing
- environmental,
social, animal
welfare, traceability
Reduce risk, maximize
resources and
influence on the
wool market; 2025
100% sustainable
cotton to be used in
production, by 2020
only organic cotton
to be utilized in
production.
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disclosing circular economy R principles into their integrated reporting
practices?”. See Figure 4 for the total case companies' references
cited.
Figure 4 argues that all four companies provide information about
their IR and comprehensively cover all essential elements that corre-
spond with CE R principles. The content analysis shows that case
study companies were seen to be more involved in the reduce (R1),
reuse (R2) and recycle (R7) engaged with IR practices. Traditionally,
the capital elements often emphasize creating, delivering and captur-
ing economic value (Bocken et al., 2018; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a,
1983b; Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Scott, 2005), which tend to refer only
to the resources used to obtain such economic performance, while
neglecting their environmental and social values. Increasing numbers
of financial analysts, stakeholders and rating agencies now observe
that economic execution associated with environmental, social and
financial-related criteria are significant terms to describe an organiza-
tion's overall performance (Bueno-Garcia et al., 2021; Deegan, 2014;
Meng et al., 2014). In this perspective, the importance to link financial
and sustainable aspects highlights the relevance of our findings on
financial-related outcomes, which can be supported by IR reporting
practices. The impact of CE on the financial capital can generate dif-
ferent outcomes in terms of reduction of energy consumption or
TABLE 8 (Continued)
Practices M&S H&M Kering Benetton
packaging,
sustainable retailer,
participation in UN
development goals.
use renewable
energy 100%; local
government recycle
policy by 2022 (plan
A).
and chemical
substance; set up
ideas lab for
knowledge sharing
between working
groups and develop
new ideas and
solutions for
problems.
F IGURE 4 Total case companies' references.
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material waste or other resources that can be disclosed in a detailed
way by using IR model. The CE and IR combined framework can pro-
vide an interesting model for representing the connection between
financial materiality and CE (Nwachukwu, 2022) that may build new
revenue streams (Deloitte, 2022) and improve investment results,
especially in the aftermath of severe shocks.
Given the theoretical underpinnings of institutional theory, past
researchers (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b; Meyer &
Rowan, 1977; Scott, 2005) and the current research findings (see
Tables 7, 8 and 9) demonstrate that CE R principle-related activities
closely tally with organizational legitimacy and create a more sustain-
able environment within society. IR framework (IIRC, 2017) integrated
with six capitals can be seen to interact with the external environment
and business models to create value over the short-, medium- and
long-term. The case study companies' capitals represent different fea-
tures of SD that are interlinked with economic, social and environ-
mental principles and CE R principles (Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022;
Busco et al., 2013; De Villiers & Sharma, 2020; Reike et al., 2018).
DiMaggio and Powell (1983a, 1983b p. 147) identify organizational
fields as being those organizations that comprise a perceived area of
institutional life, have essential resources, suppliers and customers,
produce similar services and products, and require a common frame-
work for SD. Coercive isomorphism recognizes that certain external
elements (such as stakeholders, intellectual capital, social and relation-
ships capital, natural capital and governmental directives) impact a
firm's performance and organizational legitimacy.
A sustainable business has a more comprehensive understanding
of all the economic, environmental and social aspects that prompt the
selection of single or combined frameworks for emerging strategies,
opportunities and future perspectives (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a,
1983b; Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Negash & Lemma, 2020; Scott, 2005).
Furthermore, companies try to increase their legitimacy by combining
or developing new practices, frameworks and standards, as well as
communicating to their external stakeholders their organizational
value creation through utilizing SD (Bueno-Garcia et al., 2021;
DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b; Milne & Patten, 2002). It is worth
mentioning that businesses moved towards CE even faster (Hassan
et al., 2021), hoping for a better future with less waste, less impact,
and more benefits for business, society, and the environment. Hassan
et al. (2021) supported this notion and suggested implementing the
CE model for SD.
With regard to financial capital-related outcomes, M&S use a
renewable energy strategy (EEA, 2019), H&M utilize increased
amounts of solar energy, Kering use a reintegrated thinking approach
(EEA, 2022) and Benetton use an energy reduction (Gunarathne,
Lee, & Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021; Gunarathne, Wijayasundara,
et al., 2021) approach to gain financial benefits and all these activities
are close to CE principles R0, R1, R2 and R8, as well as SDGs 7, 8,
9 and 12.
With regard to manufacturing capital-related outcomes, the case
study companies followed the R principles (such as R1, R2, R3, R4, R5
and R7) within their production processes (Reike et al., 2018) as well
as SDGs 8, 9, 11 and 12. Regarding intellectual capital and human cap-
ital, the case study companies demonstrated only the CE principle of
rethinking/repurposing (Feng et al., 2017), but engaged with SDGs
3, 5 and 10. The CE R9 principle was seen to have been incorporated
within the social and relationship capital of the case companies. SDG
16 perspectives related to the four case study companies were seen
to have a strong relationship with their stakeholders (e.g., local,
national & international bodies) and had developed a CSR culture
within their organizations. While normative isomorphism demon-
strates such elements (such as stakeholders, manufacturing capital,
natural capital, formal education and skill development (human capital)
and governmental directives all impact upon a firm's performance and
organizational legitimacy (Bueno-Garcia et al., 2021; Carpenter &
Feroz, 2001; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b, p. 152; Negash &
Lemma, 2020). The case study companies also followed the R8 and
R9 principles (EMF, 2015) for promoting natural capital and also inte-
grated with SDGs 12, 13 and 14. Allfour companies utilized an effec-
tive strategy for reducing GHG emissions, were free from the use of
hazardous chemicals, and all were seen to have reduced their landfill
and carbon footprints (European Commission, 2015b; Farrukh
et al., 2022). As all operate in different countries with strong regula-
tory policies regarding CE issues, they tend to disclose considerable
amounts of information about their CE and 10 R principles within
their reporting practices.
TABLE 9 Overview of case study companies' contributions towards SDGs 2030 with IR & CE.
Capital M&S H&M Kering Benetton CE R principles
Financial 6, 7, 8, 12 9, 12, 17 5, 6, 8, 12,
13
8 Refuse (R0), reduce (R1), reuse (R2), recover
energy (R8)
Manufactured 7, 8, 11, 12, 14,
15, 17
6, 7, 9, 12, 13,
14, 17
6, 8,
12, 13
12, 13,
17
Reused (R2), repair (R3), refurbish (R4),
remanufacture (R5), recycle material (R7)
Intellectual 9 10 3, 12, 13 17 Repair (R3), rethinking/repurpose (R6), recycling
(R7)
Human 3, 4, 5, 10 5, 10 5, 13, 15 5, 8 Repurpose (R6), Employees' development
Social and
relationships
1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 14, 15,
16, 17
6 5 Remine (R9), local authorities and landowners,
recover (R8) energy and waste content
Natural 6, 7, 12, 14, 15 13, 15 13, 15 12, 13,
17
Re-mine (R9), free from hazardous chemicals,
recover (R8), reverse logistic, use of biomass
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The IIRC framework (IIRC, 2017) represents the risk influences on
the capacity of business, and opportunity refers to the value creation
over short-, medium- and long-term operations. The case study com-
panies have also assumed an institutionalized management framework
(e.g., ISO 14001, ISO 14040 and/or ISO 14044) as an environmental
management instrument that can provide information with SD indica-
tors. IR may be established in a company through the process of pro-
fessionalization (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b, p. 152; De
Villiers & Sharma, 2020) and may utilize different methods, reflecting
the need to interpret sustainability reporting characteristics and
frameworks as a reflection of global SD layouts (Bhuiyan et al., 2023;
Crane et al., 2008; European Commission, 2021; Reike et al., 2018;
Schroeder et al., 2019) as well as CE-related 10 R principles. In this
respect, M&S has adopted a strategy of optimizing opportunity by
eliminating extensive packaging costs and also by increasing risk mon-
itoring within the organization (e.g., M&S carefully monitors the Brexit
risk). H&M works upon minimizing risk (Moll et al., 2006) by their
management selecting low-risk suppliers and sourcing (by measuring
the water input) and has created an opportunity within the organiza-
tion to use the redesign of production to re-utilize waste and decrease
the per-unit cost. Both Kering and Benetton have followed the strat-
egy of redesign/rethinking (Guthrie et al., 2017) and have explored
economic opportunities through the use of CE, with the aim of
addressing SDG 12 and ensuring sustainable consumption and pro-
duction. The author thus argues that organizations utilizing institu-
tionalized IIRC (2017) framework/guidance are more inclined to
disclose these more sustainable practices within the context of their
CE activities, while, certain mimetic isomorphism signifies
(DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b) that cover structures and frame-
works which are not completely known or understood/unavailable
and case companies objectives are questionable or SD is unsure, orga-
nizations turn to follow other established organizational standards
and IIRC framework to demonstrate their legitimacy.
From a strategy and resource allocation point of view, most of
the four case study companies used the CE 3-R principles of reduce,
reuse and recycle (Kirchherr et al., 2017) within their clothes and fash-
ion production. The findings indicate the case study companies fol-
lowing the EMF, SDG and EU directives, such as the CE action plan
(European Commission, 2015b; EU, 2019) and developing their orga-
nizational activities towards close-loop systems and a shorter product
circle (Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Reike et al., 2018). In 2017, col-
laboration between the EMF and H&M commenced to investigate the
greater use of circular store design, whereby H&M took on a circular
fibre initiative and consequently published “A new textiles economy:
redesigning fashion's future” (EMF, 2017). H&M is certainly a pioneer
in its actions towards becoming a company with a CE. Head of Sus-
tainability, Anna Gedda, stated in an interview that H&M focuses
upon three specific areas: creating sustainable fashion, development
of its technologies and, lastly, exploration of how the customer will
buy fashion in the future. M&S, Kering and Benetton have also pro-
gressed towards improved reuse and recycling of clothes, achieving
zero waste and towards a circular biotechnology strategy. Being bio-
based develops the legitimacy of the company and its employees
(Linder & Williander, 2017). Chief Executive Steve Rowe (H&M,
2019a, 2019b, p. 4) stated, “M&S needs to change and fast. We are
now in the first phase of our transformation, restoring the basics so
that we can deliver sustainable, profitable growth to investors, col-
leagues, and the communities in which we operate”.
H&M, Kering and Benetton have each used a sustainable CE
model with performance-related CE R principles, artificial intelligence
and big data approaches for their long-term value creation. Their
forecasts for SD targets are impressive. H&M has a plan for a new
water map by 2022, for zero waste by 2030 and to reduce their car-
bon emissions by 11% by 2040. The H&M group has a CE frame-
work throughout the entire value chain. It entails switching from a
linear to a circular model that uses resources as efficiently as possible
and produces no waste. The circular method applies to commercial
and non-commercial goods, including packaging, storefronts, and
structures (Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Busco et al., 2013; De
Villiers & Sharma, 2020; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b; Reike
et al., 2018). H&M Innovation leads to circularity initiatives, including
developing innovative methods for producing, reusing, resale, and
recycling wise products and encourages people to make more envi-
ronmentally friendly decisions by creating services and other
methods to repair, reuse, repurpose, and recycle products whenever
possible (Barnabè & Nazir, 2022; Reike et al., 2018). By 2030, the
H&M group wants to make all its commercial items and packaging
from recycled or sustainably developed materials. H&M group
reduced the percentage of new materials used in the organization's
goods in 2019 by increasing the share of recycled content from 1.4%
to 2.2% (EEA, 2022, 2019; EU, 2019; UN, 2015). By 2025, all pack-
aging must be reusable, recyclable, or compostable, and by 2030, all
packaging and non-commercial goods must be created from recycled
or other sustainably developed materials (H&M, 2019a, 2019b,
p. 47).
The Kering aims to establish a foundation of best practices for
sourcing raw materials (such as leather, precious skins, wool, cotton,
and diamonds) and manufacturing processes (such as training and
metal refining) to ensure the long-term success of our activities by
encouraging sustainable growth and uniformly applying the Sustain-
ability Strategy and focus on five areas, environmental effects, social
impact, animal welfare, traceability, and chemicals (EEA, 2022, 2019;
EU, 2019; UN, 2015). The standards, backed bychallenging goals, are
crucial for reducing Kering's environmental profit and loss by 40% by
2025 (IR, 2019, p. 39). Several efforts that the Benetton Group
started and continued in 2019 aimed to enhance the circular supply
chain, from design to production, consumption, and product end-cycle
(EEA, 2022, 2019; EU, 2019; UN, 2015; Benetton, 2019). The goal is
to create a medium- to long-term ‘circular economy’ plan or a
manufacturing model that limits the amount of energy and resources
brought in while at the same time minimizing waste and losses
(Benetton, 2019, p. 58).
Additionally, organizations, which practise SD, contribute to
improve business standards, both employing and endorsing the textile
industry's best conduct on green initiatives (EEA, 2022, 2019;
EU, 2019; UN, 2015).
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In this respect, the authors expect that environmental factors
regarding the industry may impact upon company reports, detailing
even more CE-related activities becoming integrated into IR practices.
These trends confirm that the four case study companies have not
only demonstrated their CE-related activities being transformed into
their IR, but also have plans for waste recycling principles that are
beneficial for decreased packaging waste. IR comprehensively covers
all the essential elements that correspond with CE for SD. The authors
argue that the CE R principles embed with both IR and SD. Thus, this
study proposes a combined framework of CE and IR that supports SD
activities, as well as following global standards of SD. The framework
not only covers all the elements of CE and IR but also supports the
value creation of the organization (Figure 5).
7 | CONCLUSION
In this paper, the authors introduced a preliminary study of CE R0
to R9 principles disclosure in IR practices; as mentioned, IR is
assuming an increasing role in the business communication pro-
cesses (e.g., Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; IIRC, 2017; Kirchherr
et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; Williams & Lodhia, 2021). Its actual
use to effectively disclose data about CE activities still needs to be
researched, thus calling for more investigation and evidence
(e.g., Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Stewart & Niero, 2018). Specifi-
cally, the study considered the framework for IR developed by the
International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC, 2017, p. 14 by
Adams), an international coalition of regulators, investors,
companies, standard setters, accounting professionals and NGOs.
The framework (IIRC, 2017) proposes a precise and complete model
of corporate reporting aimed at communicating to all stakeholders
the value created by the organization in the short, medium and long
term (Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Geissdoerfer et al., 2017;
Hassan et al., 2021; Kunc et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2019; Terblanche &
De Villiers, 2019).
In more detail, and starting from these considerations, this study
explored the nexus of IR and the multiple capitals approach with CE
issues and activities. In detail, through content analysis, the study pro-
vided data valid to investigate “how and to what extent are multina-
tional garments companies disclosing circular economy R principles into
their integrated reporting practices and multiple capitals approach?”. Our
preliminary findings show that the amount of disclosure of CE con-
cepts still needs to be improved in this typology of integrated reports.
The content analysis shows that case study companies are actively
more involved in the reduce (R1), reuse (R2) and recycle (R7), engaged
with IR practices and focused on SDGs. To the author's knowledge,
such an extensive study has not been conducted before in the context
of CE and IR practices. According to the term cited, M&S and H&M
have disclosed more CE-related activities and focus on SDGs than
Kering and Benetton.
The coercive, normative, and mimetic isomorphism
(DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b; Meyer & Rowan, 1977) mecha-
nism substantially impacts CE activities concerning IR practices. The
study concluded that a combined framework of CE and IIRC is
required, with the aim of value creation and participation in the SD
agenda. While the impact of mimetic isomorphisms needs further
F IGURE 5 Encircle circular economy R0 to R9 principles into integrated reporting framework. Source: combined framework (IIRC, 2013a,
p. 13) and & Reike et al. (2018).
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investigation because no structures and frameworks are available
which are not entirely known or understood that measures
whether the objectives are questionable or when SD is unsure
within the organization. However, policymakers and trendsetters
can establish new organizational standards and frameworks to dem-
onstrate their legitimacy. Organizations are currently experiencing
vulnerability regarding social, economic, and environmental factors
that demand sustainability disclosure (both financial and non-
financial)to achieve best business practices (Albertini, 2021;
Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Doni et al., 2019; IIRC, 2013a,
2013b, 2017, 2021; Kunc et al., 2020; Stewart & Niero, 2018).
The study's main contribution is related to interpreting all the R
principles (R0-R9) with IR and the six capitals and creating a link
with their SDGs practices. That opened a new avenue for manage-
ment accounting practitioners to develop a business model and
accounting statement (i.e., Environment profit and Loss Account
(EP&L) that can be considered CE principles with SDGs. The pro-
posed framework also provides a conceptual picture of how CE
activities intermesh with the IR framework and the six capitals,
both essential for the organization's SD and value creation.
8 | LIMITATIONS, FUTURE RESEARCH
AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Our study provides a preliminary analysis and certainly has some limi-
tations. One limitation of the study may be its research design and the
choice of content analysis. As previous research demonstrated, con-
tent analysis's limitations have traditionally been the excessive focus
on the quantity rather than the quality of disclosure (Guthrie &
Abeysekera, 2006). Stated differently, the quantity of disclosure does
not necessarily entail an organization disclosing information of high
quality or relevance to its stakeholders (Guthrie & Abeysekera, 2006;
Guthrie et al., 2004; Milne & Adler, 1999). Second, the limitation of
this study is that it draws upon a relatively limited sample of inte-
grated reports; third, a study could conduct a qualitative in-depth
approach utilizing semi-structured interviews of responsible persons
and policymakers of companies (Yin, 2014), an analysis of which
would enhance this current research and produce new prospective
ideas to test. Fourth, a study could be undertaken to test the robust-
ness of this combined framework by applying it to another industry
(such as food or automation), then comparing the results with this
research, and further studies could be conducted to compare
this research with other regions of the world (such as Africa or the
USA), identifying how and to what extent these regions and other sec-
tors more polluting sectors, such as the electricitysector, agri-food,
marine maritime pots, fishing (Barnabè & Nazir, 2020), could contrib-
ute more and promote CE-related IR practices, and also what policies
and barriers to change such regions and sectors (Burke & Clark, 2016;
Veltri & Silvestri, 2020). The research does not include the COVID-19
period for a reason to explore a well-defined pattern, and the study
can use to measure the effects during and after COVID-19 effects.
These limitations also open up avenues for further research,
specifically towards statistical analyses that could be performed to
correlate data emerging from the content analysis (Guthrie
et al., 2004, p. 287) with a range of other relevant factors for CE.
From the practical perspective, corporate managers and stake-
holders should use this study's findings to deploy CE-related practices
in the organization and society to enhance sustainable consumption
practices. The study provides an accurate picture and well shape
information to all the stakeholders for managerial decision-making,
policymakers, and trendsetters for developing new standards and reg-
ulations for adequately implementing CE activities into their organiza-
tion reporting. It can use for developing indicators (Key Performance
Indicators) to measure the CE and its role in the organization's and
companies' SD performance (EEA, 2019, 2022; European
Commission, 2015a). A combined framework helps minimize resource
consumption, promote regenerative activities in the business, gener-
ate new accounting information for stakeholders and companies to
rethink their value-creation strategies.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement
in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-
financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this
manuscript.
ORCID
Sarfraz Nazir https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7925-8597
Federica Doni https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6581-9530
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Wild, S., & van Staden, C. (2013, July). Integrated reporting: Initial analysis
of early reporters—An institutionalvariety of both financial and non-financial mandatory reporting prac-
tices at the organizational level. Under the Legislative Decree
no. 254/2016 that put into effect the European Directive 2014/95/
EU in Italy, the commitment to report non-financial information was
required for organizations, public, investors and stakeholders'
interests. CE-related reporting practices also involve financial and
non-financial information for stakeholder participation. Since 2016,
financial analysts have had another obligation in conveying non-
financial information to organizations' investors (European
Union, 2017) to thereby clarify practices and results regarding social,
environmental and governance rules and regulations applied to their
organizations [EU Directive 2014/95/EU]. While, Integrated Report-
ing (IR) contains financial and non-financial reports involving aspects
of business, economic, social and environmental conditions through
the development of financial, manufactured and resource develop-
ment (Williams & Lodhia, 2021). Many organizations now publish just
a single report containing both financial and non-financial information.
By combining such information, IR handles the various issues related
to ordinary, voluntary sustainability reports (for example, the inability
to easily communicate a corporate business model) and denotes the
relationships between the different capitals that interact within the
organization (such as financial, manufacturing, intellectual, human and
social relationships) by using for its value creation (Barnabè &
Nazir, 2020, 2022; Doni et al., 2019; IIRC, 2013a, 2017; Williams &
Lodhia, 2021). The combined CE and IR can provide a framework that
promotes sustainability practices, supports transits from linear to cir-
cular, and can disclose corporate accountability in companies' reports
(Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022). As large literature confirmed, the
adoption of IR can ensure the stakeholder responsiveness (IR, 2013,
2021) by improving the quality of firm's relationship with its stake-
holders to legitimate their needs and expectations (Busco et al., 2013;
De Villiers et al., 2014; Rinaldi et al., 2018; Wild & van Staden, 2013).
Some empirical findings demonstrated that IR preparer's accountabil-
ity experience can enhance IR stakeholder dialogue practices (Lai
et al., 2018) even if it is important to evaluate the effective validity of
IR as an accountability tool (Silvestri & Veltri, 2019; Silvestri et al.,
2017).
Generally, the role and impact of the concept of CE-R0 to R9
principle in IR practices had not been previously addressed. However,
enormous potential applies (for example, within the textile industry)
for those companies that incorporate products manufactured utilizing
high-throughput volumes while using CE R principles (EEA, 2019,
2022; EMF, 2013; EMF, 2017; EU, 2019). The paper aims to assess
how and to what extent CE concepts disclosing in manufacturing
companies IR. To do this, the author used institutional theory, hierar-
chically ranked R-imperatives as fundamental operationalization prin-
ciples (Reike et al., 2018), and IIRC's (2017) framework.
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This paper can contribute to literature in manifold way. First,
this study contributes to creating a relationship between CE R prin-
ciples and IR for SDGs and provides a combined framework that
embeds the CE R0 to R9 principles into the IR framework and the
six capitals for stakeholders, policymakers, trendsetters and organi-
zations, promoting SD and accounting statements that considered
CE principles. Second, this study contributes a broad range of CE
and IR literature by examining different authors' and researchers'
work and how institutional isomorphisms may influence IR for dis-
closed CE-related information. Surprisingly, global garment
manufacturing corporations are under-investigating
(EEA, 2019, 2022) and attempting to justify their positions and
behaviours by adopting institutional logic that emphasizes coercive,
normative and mimetic variables and best practices more than legis-
lative requirements. Third, this research is based on four significant
textile manufacturing companies, giving a more comprehensive view
of CE and IR trends and enabling comparison of results. Because
most recent studies on IR and CE focus primarily on one particular
company (Barnabè & Nazir, 2022), we have thus examined a wide
range of issues, (a) the significance of the CE impact on corporate
reporting context, (b) the lack of studies on how multinational gar-
ments companies disclose CE R principles information regarding
their efforts towards sustainability, (c) the significance of the CE
framework for controlling the adverse effects on the environment,
social and economic, also motivates policymakers and trendsetters
to develop standards that cover the triple bottom line by CE and
IR. Finally, our findings can be used to inform corporate decisions
on developing or revamping performance measuring systems for
businesses and enhancing external reporting practices.
This study is based upon just one question: “how and to what
extent are multinational garments companies disclosing circular economy
R principles into their integrated reporting practices and multiple capital
approach?”. To address these objectives, the research design entailed
content analysis (searching textual elements, number and frequency
of concepts) and thematic analysis is described as “a method for iden-
tifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within data”
(Braun & Clarke, 2006, p 79). For both cases, codebooks of words
(content analysis) and sentence-wise identification analysis (thematic
analysis) are required to interpretation of the report pattern
(Schilling, 2006; Vaismoradi et al., 2013, p. 399), the study has devel-
oped a codebook by using different authors' definitions, international
organization glossaries and expert opinions. Four case studies are
examined utilizing the companies' CE practices as described in their IR
publications, and the comprehensive findings are presented. The dis-
cussion is present in the light of past scholarly work, the author's
arguments and the institutional theory approach to justify incorporat-
ing CE R-principles activities into IR practices.
The rest of paper proceeds as follow. The next section analyses
CE and IR backgrounds and the related literature, Section 3 is the the-
oretical framework while Section 4 presents the research design and
methodology. Section 5 and 6 explain and discuss the main findings.
Finally, the conclusion, limitations and suggestions for potential fur-
ther research are presented.
2 | BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE
REVIEW
2.1 | Defining ‘Circular Economy’
Over recent years, the CE has turned into an inexorably debated area
worldwide as a way of achieving a more sustainable society. The inten-
tion of CE is to identify provisions that will ensure SD between the
economy, society and the environment. Although the literature provides
several different definitions for the concept, we analyse in this study
(e.g., Kirchherr et al., 2017 analysed 114 definitions of this concept), “a
circular economy is an economic system where products and services are
traded in closed-loop cycles”. Geng and Doberstein (2008, p. 233) por-
tray the CE as the “acknowledgment of closed-loop material flow in the
entire economy”. Webster (2013, p. 545) adds that “CE is helpful to
restorative material by design, which expects to keep the product, parts
[and] materials for long periodstheory approach. In 7th Asia Pacific
interdisciplinary accounting research conference (pp. 26‐28).
Williams, B., & Lodhia, S. (2021). Integrated reporting in public sector orga-
nisations: A study of Australian local councils. Journal of Environmental
Management, 280, 111833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.
111833
Wilson, S. M. (2013). Professional development for science teachers. Sci-
ence, 340(6130), 310–313. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1230725
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Sage.
How to cite this article: Nazir, S., & Doni, F. (2024). Nexus of
circular economy R0 to R9 principles in integrated reporting:
Insights from a multiple case study comparison. Business
Strategy and the Environment, 33(5), 4058–4085. https://doi.
org/10.1002/bse.3684
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https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-03-2018-0059
https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-03-2018-0059
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/
https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12048
https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12048
https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2556
https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2013.835977
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111833
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111833
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1230725
https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3684
https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3684
APPENDIX A: CODEBOOK USED IN THIS STUDY
CE R principles Terms Sources
Refuse (R0) Buy less, use less product, prevention of waste creation, post
material lifestyle of product, Deal with virgin material
(rethinking), product life assessment, less materials to be
used, designer side-steps waste creation, designer avoids
specific toxic material, designing product lifecycle by a
producer
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Reduce (R1) Consume few natural resources, reduce CO2 emissions,
reduce water consumption and energy, Rapier for the extent
of product life, dematerialization, less material per unit of
production, production ratio of green products, ratio of
water and energy used minimized, ratio of reducing
packaging, reduce packaging
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Resell/reuse
(R2)
Reusing part of the products, stakeholders, manufacturers,
suppliers, retailers, consumers, and waste managers, online
business to customer products, ratio of parts repair/
refurbishment for Sale, Sale ratio in the second-hand market,
share economy, redesign ratio by short-term/long-term
closed-loop process
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Repair (R3) Extend the product life, make product in a new form, recreated
for original function, collection centre for old products,
number of defective product repair, number of second-hand
product repair, repair without change ownership (enhance
the labour skills)
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Re-furbish (R4) Upgrade of product, use more advanced components, upgrade
the worker skills by training (product by product), number of
products refurbished by using new components, number of
training sessions
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Re-manufacture
(R5)
Multi-component products are disassembled and replaced for
the new product, reprocessing, recycling used for the new
product, number of reconditioning of the product, number
of products by product, the ratio of restoration
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Re-purpose/
rethink (R6)
Rethink fashion upgrading, new product with old parts,
reproduce for new function, number of redesigned products
for new functions, number of old parts used for new product
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Recycle (R7) Post-consumer product waste/post-producer product waste,
follow health standards, quality of product maintained,
technology transfer for low carbon energy, control over
harmful substances (EC action plan), number of recycling
technology used, high-quality recycling, participation in job
creation by recycling, quantity recycles material
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Recover/energy
(R8)
End of life of the product, energy recovery, basic material
recovery, capture of energy, use of biomass, quantity of
basic material recover
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
Remine (R9) The material after the landfill phase, free from hazardous
chemicals, policymaker and business role in remine process,
area restoration of land for urban, reduce the incineration of
materials
EEA, 2019, 2022; EU, 2019; EMF, 2017, 2022; IIRC, 2011,
2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2016, 2017, 2021; European
Commission, 2015b, 2015c, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020,
2022; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Reike et al., 2018; US Chamber
of Commerce glossary
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APPENDIX B: RELATIONSHIPS AMONG IR CAPITALS, CE R0-R9 PRINCIPLES AND SDGS
Capital CE R0-R9 principles SDGs 2030
Financial Refuse (R0), reduce (R1), reuse (R2), repair (R3), recover (R8) 3, 4, 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, 13,14,15,16,17
Manufactured Reused (R2), reduce (R1), repair (R3), refurbish (R4), remanufacture (R5), recycle
material (R7)
2,4,6,7,9,11,12,13,14,17
Intellectual Repair (R3), rethinking/repurpose (R6), recycle (R7) 3,6,7,10, 12,13,14,16,17
Human Repurpose (R6), 3,4,5,6,7,8,10,12,13,14,16,17
Social and
relationships
Recycle (R7), recover (R8), re-mine (R9) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17
Natural Recover(R8), re-mine (R9) 2,6,7,11,12,13,13,14,15
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	Nexus of circular economy R0 to R9 principles in integrated reporting: Insights from a multiple case study comparison
	1 INTRODUCTION
	2 BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW
	2.1 Defining `Circular Economy´
	2.2 How the CE encircles in sustainable development
	2.3 How CE encircles with IR
	3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
	3.1 Institutional theory
	4 RESEARCH DESIGN
	5 FINDINGS
	6 DISCUSSION
	7 CONCLUSION
	8 LIMITATIONS, FUTURE RESEARCH AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
	CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
	REFERENCES
	APPENDIX A CODEBOOK USED IN THIS STUDY
	APPENDIX B RELATIONSHIPS AMONG IR CAPITALS, CE R0-R9 PRINCIPLES AND SDGSwith zero waste as well as create new job
opportunities at the local level”. In the same manner, the Ellen
MacArthur Foundation (EMF, 2020, 2022) states that “the CE is the
closed-loop flow of materials and utilization of raw materials for energy
through various stages”. CE is a regenerative framework in which
resource inputs, waste, emanation and energy emissions are limited,
closing and narrowing material and energy circles. The EMF (2013)
describes CE as “an industrial economy that is supportive or regenerative
by expectation and framework”. The CE concept is well presented by the
Ellen MacArthur Foundation as three key standards, first preserving
resources, second optimizing resource life and third eliminating negative
externalities (EMF, 2013, pp. 22–23).
It can be seen that the EMF has adjusted the CE framework in
several ways: ‘waste’, ‘redesign’, ‘remanufacturing’, ‘reuse’, ‘mate-
rials waste’, ‘durable’, ‘material returns’, ‘extend product life-cycle’,
‘supply chain management’, ‘eliminate lethal synthetic substances’,
‘sustainable energy power source’, ‘product design flexibility’ and
‘minimize the production cost’. This framework alters and reconsiders
how economic and value creation can keep working within long-
running SD (EMF, 2015). CE is broadly acting like a substitute model
of production and utilization, a progress framework empowering the
‘decoupling’ of natural resources used for economic development,
along with SD contributions (EC, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c; EMF, 2016;
EU, 2019; Geissdoerfer et al., 2017; Ghisellini et al., 2016). These
demanding situations and possibilities call for more excellent systemic
solutions consistent with the European Green Deal aim to make pro-
gress sustainable, environment, electrical energy- and aid-efficient CE
principles. CE Action Plan (2019) and in 2021 update of the EU Indus-
trial Strategy (EEA, 2022) state that the textile is a crucial product of
value creation and needs robust potential for the transition to sustain-
able and circular consumption and production business frameworks.
Subsequently, businesses, customers and government inside the
EU are already focussing on this area's growing sustainability and cir-
cularity. Furthermore, the transition could be faster, and the environ-
mental and climate footprint of the textile sector remains excessive.
The production and consumption of fabric products keep growing,
and so does their impact on the environment, water, waste and
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energy consumption. Global textile (garments) production nearly dou-
bled between 2000 and 2015 (EMF, 2017), and the consumption of
clothing and footwear is predicted to upsurge by 63% through 2030,
from 62 million tonnes now to 102 million tonnes in 2030
(EEA, 2019). In the EU, the consumption of textiles, most of which
can be imported, now reports on average the four highest impacts on
environmental changes and the three highest impacts on water con-
sumption that case landfalling (EEA, 2019). About 5.8 million tonnes
of textiles are wasted every year inside the EU (EEA, 2019), and each
second somewhere in the world, a truckload of textiles waste is cast-
off for landfilled or incinerated (EMF, 2017). The textile sector plays a
vital role in the European manufacturing industry, performing a crucial
part in the economic, social and environmental systems in many coun-
tries of Europe. According to 2019 facts, 160,000 firms in the textile
industry employ 1.5 million individuals and generate a turnover of
€162 billion. Italy, France, the UK, Sweden, Germany, Spain and
Portugal are the most prominent manufacturers in this business. They
account for approximately three-quarters of EU production
(EU, 2019). Figure 1 demonstrates how the R principles embed within
an organization's materials, manufacturing, sales, customers, waste
and landfall processes.
Reike et al. (2018) define in-depth CE key operationalization prin-
ciples as either ‘new or refurbished’ and build up definitive compo-
nents of the transformative perspective of CE and operationalization
as principles or R imperatives. Although the 3 R principles (reduce,
reuse and recycle) recognize the CE's principal concepts, more pro-
gressive systems with closed-loop circles (such as recover, redesign
and repurpose) emphasize the significant value of the preservation of
resources over different lifecycles of products (Barnabè &
Nazir, 2022). Reike et al. (2018) investigated the key operationaliza-
tion imperatives that applied within company operations and drew-up
R principles as a reaction to ongoing SD for a better conceptualization
of CE that integrates with resource value preservation choices. The
authors represent R principles (particularly the ‘R0 to R9-Rs’ —
reduce, recycle, repair, reuse, reproduce, redesign, remanufacture,
refurbish, refuse and recover) that integrate with IR and SD.
2.2 | How the CE encircles in sustainable
development
CE has been gaining popularity as a means to achieve regional,
national and international SD, which has gained considerable atten-
tion from global organizations (Lacy & Rutqvist, 2015) and policy-
makers (EC, 2015b; EU, 2019). The variables of SD for human
prosperity integrate with food security, salary, water and sanitation,
medical services, training, vitality, sex equity, social values, voice
(e.g., political support, opportunity of speech), occupations and flexi-
bility (Dearing et al., 2014) that are now protected by the United
Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, 2015).
The term ‘sustainable development’ was first used in the
Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development in 1987, the Brundtland report briefly defines the con-
cept of SD as the “ability to make development sustainable to ensure
that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the
capacity of future generations to meet their own needs”. As many
F IGURE 1 Business activities flow combines with R0-R9 principles. Source: Adopted from EMF (2013, p. 33) and Reike et al. (2018).
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studies demonstrated, CE-related activities can lead to SD (Panchal
et al., 2021). Specifically, several CE practices contribute toward
accomplishing the targets of SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy).
Waste recovery from industrial actions and modern waste-to-energy
frameworks, particularly when connected in eco-industrial processes,
offer huge possibilities to enhance modern energy production in SDG
7.3 (“By 2030 agenda, enhancement of energy productivity”). For the
decrease of waste under SDG 12 (“By 2030 agenda considerably
diminish waste through remedial action, reduce, recycle and reuse”),
the CE practices of reuse prompt an environmentally preferred option
in contrast to numerous other waste management practices. Reuse
promotes resource productivity capacity and reduces GHG emissions,
water reuse and soil contamination over the product's lifecycle
(Castellani et al., 2014). Reuse practices offer expanded product life
and product design frameworks (Stahel, 2014) that can play a vital role
in accomplishing these aims.
The CE offers a useful approachfor explicit SDGs (e.g., industry
associations, remanufacturing closed-circle with supply chain manage-
ment, PSS models, circular business models and circular innovation
models, as sketched out under SDG 17). CE practices focus on waste
and E-waste, wastewater reuse and sanitation, industrial symbiosis,
remanufacturing, reuse of products and energy effectiveness for
SD. By transforming waste into resources of different designs or of
the same design, industry associations play a dynamic role in CE prac-
tice and SD. Innovative business models in CE practices aim to maxi-
mize those products and materials already in the system, by
remanufacturing (Gray & Charter, 2007), redesigning (Preston, 2012),
repairing (Lacy & Rutqvist, 2015) and reusing (Castellani et al., 2014).
Generally, the role and impact of the concept of CE-R0 to R9 in IRs
had not been previously addressed while Barnabè &
Nazir, 2020, 2022 have addressed this concept in the CE-4Rs and 6Rs
with IRs but ignored the SDGs concept.
The purpose of the study is to investigate how and to what
extent CE activities are developing within companies and being dis-
closed in IR practices and multiple capital approach, to enhance
SD. Researchers and practitioners continue to develop conceptual
relationships with CE business models, enhancing social, environmen-
tal and company value creation (Bocken et al., 2018; Shela
et al., 2023), with researchers highlighting new strategies to review
environmental, social and economic SD execution through circular
business models and circular production (op. cit.).
2.3 | How CE encircles with IR
Implementing IR entails the development of new accounting practices
and management development operations. To achieve this, there are
a number of international bodies engaged with IR and collaborating to
accommodate the developing interest of business sectors as well as
helping policymakers, society activists and agenda setters establish
new and emerging rules and regulations (IIRC, 2011).
Although IR has currently achieved a high level of importance
(Abhayawansa et al., 2019; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022), there is an
urgent need to investigate the potential of IR to transform corporate
reporting (Williams & Lodhia, 2021). Furthermore, developing fine
practices for each sustainability pillar continues to be evolving. It
needs to be stated that there may be always a potential difference
between what is reported and what is being done (Barnabè &
Nazir, 2020). Consequently, there has usually been an urgent need in
company sustainability research to move from only qualitative analysis
in the direction of quantitative frameworks and measurements for
defining indicators (Ibáñez-Forés et al., 2022), together with greater
similar facts and proof approximately sustainability practices
(Barnabè & Nazir, 2020) in some explored regions. IR in Central and
Eastern Europe is at its highest level, extensive progress in sustainabil-
ity regulations and the law has been made over the years. The most
current fundamental milestone is the European Green Deal in 2019,
placing the shared vision of a climate-impartial Europe by 2050
(EU, 2019). This become later observed by UNFCC COP26 in
November 2021, discussing environmental change by approximately
200 countries. Furthermore, regarding sustainability disclosure,
European Commission proposed in April 2021 the Corporate Sustain-
ability Reporting Directive (CSRD), substantially broadening the pool
of corporations required to publish environmental, social and gover-
nance information as well as defining more comprehensive reporting
necessities compared with preceding NFRD-based regulation
(European Commission, 2021; EU, 2019), that could be easily possible
if embedded CE and IR practices together and can provide true infor-
mation to stakeholders and trendsetters (Dumay et al., 2019).
With regard to CE-related IR and EU directives, the CE Action
Plan (European Commission, 2015b; EU, 2019), just as with many
national coercive instruments, demonstrates that the circumstances
within the EU nations are quite varied. The European Commission
(2015c) proposes a materials resource efficiency policy for 31 nations,
endorsing that the front-runner nations unequivocally advance
towards CE with increased vigour. By and large, the EU is confronted
with two challenges for policymaking: (a) supporting developing
nations (European Commission, 2015c) and (b) moving towards
closed-loop R principles (Reike et al., 2018; EU, 2019; Barnabè &
Nazir, 2022). Likewise, national administrative endeavours and sys-
tems for CE practice impact essentially upon organizations' CE-related
IR. Furthermore, the authors argue that CE-related IR practices may
vary from organization to organization, industry to industry and region
to region.
Many organizations, beginning with the presumption that natural
resources are not boundless and must be overseen cautiously, have
started to embrace the CE approach. The CE approach can also
enhance the product lifecycle by implementing the R principles
approach into the production process (Reike et al., 2018). The capital
incorporated into the IIRC (2013a, 2013c, 2017) framework for value
creation and SD should consolidate both financial and non-financial
returns through the use of circular approaches (Barnabè &
Nazir, 2022; Busco et al., 2013; IIRC, 2017). Interestingly, this circular-
ity includes not only value creation from waste (e.g., Barnabè &
Nazir, 2022) but also additionally managing properly the rare natural
resources at an organization's disposal and its operational procedures
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and, last but not least, adopting accounting and reporting frameworks
to facilitate the incorporation and as well as include communication of
information on systemic and long term activities (e.g., Barnabè &
Nazir, 2020, 2022; Geissdoerfer et al., 2017; Hassan et al., 2021;
Kunc et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2019; Terblanche & De Villiers, 2019).
Hassan et al. (2021) focus on an aspect of information discourse and
suggest approaches for enhancing the quality of reporting to make it
more stakeholder-friendly. Starting from these concerns and consider-
ing that previous research mainly focused on sustainability reporting
practices (Ibáñez-Forés et al., 2022), this study advocates an enhanced
role for including reporting (IR) practices (IIRC, 2017) for the analysis
and disclosure of CE-related information. Based on the IR framework
(IIRC, 2017), IR has emerged not only as one of the latest develop-
ments in the area of corporate and sustainability reporting
(e.g., Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022) but also as a doubtlessly excellent
fit for organizations interested in representing holistically and compre-
hensively CE-related information (Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Kunc
et al., 2020; Stewart & Niero, 2018). A complete and comprehensive
integrated approach to dealing and reporting CE-related information
might entail not only speaking records about the resources being
used, the activities executed, the results achieved and the influences
generated (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015) but also identifying,
revealing and disclosing the interconnections and the feedback loops
active among the elements aforementioned inside an organization CE-
orientated strategy (e.g., Kunc et al., 2020). See Table 1 for previous
scientific contributions toward CE transits.
Researchers and academic scholars have more actively engaged
with CE disclosure using an integrated thinking approach
(Barnabè & Nazir,2022; Kunc et al., 2020; Gunarathne, Lee, &
Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021; Gunarathne, Wijayasundara, et al.,
2021; Stewart & Niero, 2018). Barnabè and Nazir (2020) specifically
examined integrated reports using a sample of EU companies
between 2011 and 2018 and determined CE information into
IR. They have taken CE-4Rs-related activities (reduce, reuse, recycle
and remanufacture) into the four IR framework categories: inputs,
business activities, outputs, and outcomes. At the same time, the
study highlighted a more general reporting strategy for CE data.
Additionally, a case study has demonstrated that ‘integrated think-
ing’ can successfully enable businesses to manage their resources
from a circular viewpoint and portray the connected information.
Kunc et al. (2020) offered a preliminary methodology to identify
businesses' environmentally friendly ‘hot spots’ from a dynamic
resource-based view standpoint, have further demonstrated the use-
fulness of IR for CE disclosure.
Additionally, Barnabè and Nazir (2022) conducted a case study to
investigate how an Italian family-owned small-sized agri-food com-
pany implements integrated thinking concepts in releasing CE-related
6Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, remanufacture, redesign and recover)
information through IRs. Their research demonstrated how IR might
be a crucial tool for managers to pinpoint strategic assets (i.e., IR
capitals) and CE-related actions and possibilities. Additionally, their
findings emphasized the possibility of integrating CE and IR for
decision-making processes.
Gunarathne, Lee, and Hitigala Kaluarachchilage (2021) and
Gunarathne, Wijayasundara, et al. (2021) have developed a general
strategy for CE disclosure in Sri Lankan companies' IR and found less
disclosure of direct and explicit CE keywords and a more significant
level of implicit CE disclosure. These results imply that businesses
should be more conscious of CE and improve sustainability perfor-
mance using environmental management principles. In contrast,
Myeza et al. (2021) have examined the CE-related information in the
integrated reports of African mining corporations and attempted to
create a normative framework for integrating CE into strategic objec-
tives. However, it determined how CE transmission of information
was very generalized, which prevented a study of the information's
quality. The literature review, described in Table 1, showed that no
scientific research had examined the factors that influence CE R0-R9
disclosure in the context of IR and SD. It also demonstrated the need
for researchers to continue concentrating their analysis on IR capital's
function in CE R0-R9 practices and promote SD.
To address this gap, this current study highlights CE activities
detailed in IR practices regarding company participation in SD over
short-, medium- and long-term value creation. While companies use
different strategies by operating various types of capital
(e.g., financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and natural)
(Doni et al., 2019; IIRC, 2013a, 2013b, 2017, 2021). With this stated,
while preceding literature already addressed how IR may help compa-
nies in managing and reporting on sustainability-related problems
(e.g., Albertini, 2021; Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Kunc et al., 2020;
Stewart & Niero, 2018), a research gap is present in terms of adopting
and tailoring IR and tools to report and manage CE-related R0–R9
principle and information (with few examples to be had, however call-
ing for extra research — e.g., Barnabè & Nazir, 2020, 2022; Kunc
et al., 2020). On the contrary, the framework promoted by way of
IIRC (IIRC, 2017) explicitly conveys a feedback-loop orientation to IR,
which underpins the whole value creation process and involves man-
aging simultaneously the six capitals (Doni et al., 2019) at disposal in
addition to their interplays and trade-offs (Barnabè & Nazir, 2020;
Kunc et al., 2020), these capitals associate with their respective CE
activities. IR is manipulated to execute the CE strategies and gover-
nance, and these strategies have future impacts on SD and value crea-
tion (Albertini, 2021; Hassan et al., 2021). See Figure 2 (IIRC, 2017),
which denotes the basic framework of IR.
Figure 2 represents the basic IR framework and capital, which are
incorporated in the business for SD. Within the IR framework, the
company's strategy and business model are revealed in order to clarify
how the business capitals (inputs) can be changed into the output
through business activities (Doni et al., 2019; Feng et al., 2017).
Recently, a new way of thinking called the ‘integrated thinking and
reporting cycle’ (IIRC, 2016, 2017) has been developed (Feng
et al., 2017), which is closely related to circular thinking (Barnabè &
Nazir, 2022). These new perspectives urge companies to integrate SD
problems into their business models and strategies (Nishitani
et al., 2021), and this issue impacts upon accounting, reporting and
management control (Albertini, 2021; Giorgino et al., 2016; Shela
et al., 2023). In this respect, the author suggests that CE 10 R
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TABLE 1 Scientific contributions towards CE transits.
Authors and years Country
Corporate reporting documents
(methodology) Main findings
Wang et al., 2014 China CSR reports (content analysis) Ownership governance and institutional
pressures principally define the CE
accounting information disclosure
quality.
Stewart and Niero, 2018 Globally CSR reports (content analysis and
mapping)
The most reported CE activities are
focused on the end-of-life management
and sourcing strategies of products and
packaging rather than on circular
product design and business model
strategies.
Ünal & Shao, 2019 Italy Case study To achieve the CE objectives in business
models, managerial commitment as a
moderating factor between the value
network and the customer value
proposition and interface dimensions
has been identified as pivotal.
Jakhar et al., 2019 India Survey The adoption of CE practices is positively
influenced by exploratory innovation.
However, the exploitative innovation
capability restrains the implementation
of CE practices.
Dagiliene et al., 2020 Europe Sustainability reports (content analysis) By disclosing sustainable practices,
manufacturing companies seek to gain
societal legitimacy by reflecting
institutional logic-centred around
regulatory factors and best practices
rather than legislative requirements
Istudor and Suciu, 2020 Europe Sustainability reports (content analysis) By analysing information disclosed
following the global reporting initiatives
standards, different levels of
involvement in sustainable practices
across European agri-food companies
have emerged.
Kunc et al., 2020 Africa and
Italy
Integrated reports (case study) A framework that integrates the IR
principles and the dynamic resource-
based view for CE disclosure has been
developed.
Janik et al., 2020 Europe Sustainability reports (content analysis) In sustainability reports, the energy sector
predominantly discloses information
regarding GHG, without declaring the
methodology adopted to address them.
Scarpellini et al., 2020 Spain Survey There is a positive relationship between
the firms' circular scope, the level of
corporate social responsibility and their
environmental accounting practices.
Barnabè & Nazir, 2020 Globally Integrated reports (content analysis) The CE-related reporting practices of
worldwide firms indicate differences in
reporting choices and highlight the roleof IR.
Gunarathne, Lee, & Hitigala
Kaluarachchilage, 2021; Gunarathne,
Wijayasundara, et al., 2021
Sri Lanka Integrated reports (content analysis) The research revealed the low disclosure
of direct and explicit keywords about
the CE principles.
Kuo and Chang, 2021 China CSR and sustainability reports (content
analysis)
Environmentally sensitive firms and larger
firms are committed to disclosing
significantly more CE information to
fulfil the information-related needs of
stakeholders.
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principles merged into IR can be suitable for SD and value creation
over the short-, medium- and long-term. EU Directive 2014/95
describes significant development towards the development of finan-
cial and non-financial information and towards a more extensive
implementation of the integrated approach (integrated thinking and
reporting) (Dumay et al., 2019; Feng et al., 2017; Guthrie et al., 2017;
IIRC, 2017). IR approach can provide an insight into the connections
and relationships of the social, economic and environmental factors
TABLE 1 (Continued)
Authors and years Country
Corporate reporting documents
(methodology) Main findings
Marco-Fondevila et al., 2021 Spain Sustainability reports (content analysis) Spanish companies do not consider CE a
priority, but the firms operating in the
energy-intensive sector are more likely
to adopt CE as a strategic line.
Myeza et al., 2021 South
Africa
Integrated reports and sustainability
reports (content analysis)
The examined mining companies disclose
CE information in integrated and
sustainability reports in light of reporting
principles.
Opferkuch et al., 2021 Sustainability reports (literature review and
content analysis)
The results showed discrepancies between
the CE and sustainability reporting
literature.
Barnabè & Nazir, 2022 Italy Integrated reports (case study) The IR concept allows a better
understanding of CE-related activities
and opportunities for developing future
strategies.
Moneva et al., 2023 Europe Sustainability reports (content analysis and
case study)
CE information and initiatives are still in
the launching stage since they comprise
a minority of all the disclosed issues.
Alfatlah et al., 2022 Globally Sustainability reports (content analysis) Countries with the lowest tax rate
recorded the lowest disclosure rate.
Opferkuch et al., 2022 Europe Sustainability reports (content analysis) CE information within sustainability
reports is predominantly shallow and
inconsistent.
García-Sánchez et al., 2022 Spain Corporate websites and sustainability
reports (content and textual analysis)
Companies mainly disclose information
concerning about sustainable future,
resource management and GHGs
reduction.
Roberts et al., 2023 Globally Annual and sustainability reports (content
analysis)
Companies provide limited and confusing
information regarding CE and
biodiversity. Moreover, the motor
industry has emerged as the most
engaged in CE compared with the other
industrial sectors.
Tiscini et al., 2022 Globally Sustainability reports (frequency term
analysis)
The recent integrated reports include
environmental information from reports
published before the EU action plan for
CE and information is under
consideration with respect of
governance, strategy, management and
performance fields.
Vitolla et al., 2023 Globally Sustainability reports (content analysis) Companies provide adequate
dissemination of CE information within
the sustainability reports. Firm size,
financial leverage and firm profitability
represent positive drivers of the level of
CE disclosure.
Esposito et al., 2023 Europe Integrated reports (content analysis) Corporate governance mechanisms affect
the amount of CE information
disseminated through IR.
Abbreviations: CE, circular economy; CSR, corporate social responsibility; GHG, greenhouse gas; IR, integrated reporting.
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that impact upon a company's capacity to value creation over the
short-, medium- and long-term timescale (Busco et al., 2013).
3 | THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
3.1 | Institutional theory
To justify incorporating CE R-principles activities into IR practices, we
adopted the institutional theory approach. Institutional theory is used
to identify company practices and why it would be necessary for com-
panies to change their practices (e.g., IR practices), what then arose,
and to what extent disclosing practices, or prompting the selection of
single or combined frameworks for emerging strategies, affected
opportunities and future perspectives (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a,
1983b; Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Scott, 2005). This involves looking at
the impact on an organization by its external environment and trying
to adopt relevant CE activities into an organization legitimately so that
it can participate in SD.
Companies may try to increase their legitimacy by developing
and incorporating new practices, frameworks and standards, as well
as communicating to their external stakeholders the value creation of
the organization's SD (Bhuiyan et al., 2023; Bueno-Garcia
et al., 2021; Milne & Patten, 2002). Back in the 1970s, Meyer and
Rowan (1977) recognized that a company may employ certain proce-
dures (in line with other companies in similar circumstances) to adopt
SD conditions in an effort to appear more legitimate. DiMaggio and
Powell (1983a, 1983b, p, 148) refer to the propensity for companies
to adopt comparable frameworks and practices as ‘isomorphism’.
Meyer and Rowan (1977) denote ‘harmonization’ as a procedure
within which social procedures, commitments and facts take on
socially SD standards.
Institutional theory explores organizational structures that clarify
the purposes behind organizational frameworks within similar ‘organi-
zational fields’. DiMaggio and Powell (1983a, 1983b, p. 147) charac-
terize an organizational field as “a perceived area of institutional life,
key resources, suppliers, customers, services, products that require a
common framework for sustainable development”. Carpenter and
Feroz (2001, p. 566) state that “the organizational sustainable devel-
opment is operating within the framework of social, environmental
and economic legitimacy norms for SD among environmental, social
and economic areas”. DiMaggio and Powell (1983a, 1983b, p. 149)
describe the ‘isomorphism’ concept as best practice for moderniza-
tion and as a supportive process in which one framework can embed
with other different frameworks and contribute towards similar pro-
cesses of environmental, social and economic conditions. Hannan and
F IGURE 2 Integrated reporting framework: SDGs with value creation process. Source: IIRC (2017, p. 14) by Carol Adams “With the
permission of International integrated reporting council, 2020 (C)”.
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Freeman (1977), DiMaggio and Powell (1991), Oliver (1992),
Greenwood and Hinings (1996) and Moll et al. (2006) divide the
power of such competitive forces into two parts: competitive isomor-
phism and institutional isomorphism. Competitive isomorphism refers
to “how competitive authorities drive companies towards receiving
least-cost, efficient & effective frameworks for activities and prac-
tices” (Moll et al., 2006, p. 187), while institutional isomorphism can
be divided into three different isomorphisms (‘coercive isomorphism’,
‘normative isomorphism’ and ‘mimetic isomorphism’) (DiMaggio &
Powell, 1983a, 1983b, p. 151).
Coercive isomorphism identifies with external elements (such as
stakeholders, intellectual capital, social and relationship capital, natural
capital) and how governmental directives can impact upon a firm's
performance and legitimacy (Bueno-Garcia et al., 2021; EEA, 2022;
EU, 2014; Farrukh et al., 2022). This process arises from critical stake-
holders requiring change within institutional practices, such as in cor-
porate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (Deegan, 2014). An
“organization disclosed its corporate reporting practices [at] the
demand and [for the] engagement of stakeholders for managerial
decision making” (Deegan, 2014, p. 360).
DiMaggio and Powell (1983a, 1983b, p. 151), believe that coer-
cive isomorphism “originates from political impact and issues of legiti-
macy”. It results from a number of internal and external influences on
different organizations, such as governmental guidelines, reporting
standards and frameworks. Scott (2005) notes that coercive isomor-
phism mainly alludes to set-up rules (e.g., see UN Agenda 2030
[UN, 2015]), to inspect conventionality and impose directives, with
governmental bodies being the expected characters to complete this
part. The existence of environmental and social regulations can influ-
ence the involvement of organizations with the SDGs to contribute,
for instance, poverty eradication (SDG, 1) and gender equality (SDG,
5) (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b). As Othman et al. (2011) note,
administrative directives, as coercive isomorphism, influence corpo-
rate IR practices and are significant in promoting CE activities in such
organizations (Barnabè & Nazir, 2022; EEA, 2022). However, Milne
and Patten (2002) note that managers may provide precise records
regarding the range of organizational practices utilized to decrease
pollution (for example, environmental councils, ISO 14001, ISO
14040, ISO 14044, natural reviews and environmental audits). Such
initiatives can change corporate reporting practices and contribute
towards SD (Bhuiyan et al., 2023; Farrukh et al., 2022; Ibáñez-Forés
et al., 2022).
‘Normative isomorphism’ presents a perspective, evaluation and
mandatory measurement of social, environmental and economic activ-
ities (Scott, 2005). Normative isomorphism arises “basically from pro-
fessionalization” (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b, p. 152).
Organizing experts, institutionalization (Deegan, 2014), formal educa-
tion and skill development (human capital) processes are fountains for
normative isomorphism, especially relating to norms, values and cor-
porate labour practices (op cit.) and environmental disclosure activities
(EC, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c; EU, 2019; Negash & Lemma, 2020;
Farrukh et al., 2022). For example, an organization's appropriation of
institutionalized management frameworks, ISO 14001, ISO 14040
and/or ISO 14044, or the EMF (2020, 2022) is viewed as an instru-
ment that gives information to identifying SD indicators and standards
and rules established during the formal education of organization
members can trigger more conscious and SDG-related behaviours. In
this way, organizations can, for instance, try to reduce inequalities
(SDG 10) and be more responsible and inclusive (SDG 16)
(DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b). IR may be established for profes-
sionalization as well as other reasons; it supports the need to incorpo-
rate sustainability reporting characteristics and frameworks as a
reflection of global sustainability (De Villiers & Sharma, 2020), high
levels of professionalism and good corporate reporting practices. IIRC
(2017) provides a framework that assumes, among other factors (such
as materiality issues, strategy, resource allocation, opportunity, risk
and future outlooks) that likeness (as consistency after some time),
certainty and attributes understandably control the end quality
(Bhuiyan et al., 2023; Busco et al., 2013) and professional standard.
We argue that organizations that utilize the IIRC (2017) framework/
guidance disclose more sustainable practices in the context of their
CE activities.
‘Mimetic isomorphism’ denotes ‘standard reactions of uncer-
tainty’ (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983a, 1983b, p. 151). When structures
and frameworks are not entirely known or understood, when objec-
tives are questionable, or when SD is unsure, organizations turn to fol-
low other established organizational standards and frameworks to
demonstrate their legitimacy. Organizations are currently experiencing
vulnerability regarding social, economic and environmental factors
that demand sustainability disclosure (both financial and non-financial)
to achieve best business practices (Bhuiyan et al., 2023; Gunarathne,
Lee, & Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021; Gunarathne, Wijayasundara,
et al., 2021). Organizations operating within SD criteria (such as in the
textile industry) abide by business standards (e.g., GRI, G4 and sus-
tainability guidelines), showing business responsibility regarding green
activities (Crane et al., 2008). Mimetic factors regarding the industry
may have the impact of including even more CE-related activities in IR
practices.
4 | RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design entailed multiple case study analysis that is
employed when a phenomenon is being explored and when there is a
need to develop a relationship between the context and the event for
explaining a specific situation (Yin, 2014). In qualitative case studies,
researchers will use different methods to explore organizational phe-
nomena in greater detail and then explain them in convincing ways.
Sometimes a single case study, consisting of an organization, depart-
ment, individual or even a specific procedure (O'Dwyer, 2005, p. 232),
might not provide sufficient evidence to support the argument(s) on
its own, whereas multiple cases studies can explore and explain orga-
nizations' perspectives in different ways by similarities and differ-
ences, providing predictable or comparative outcomes from the
investigations which are reliable and cover the circumstances of many
different companies practices (Baxter & Jack, 2008; Eisenhardt, 1989;
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Stake, 2005; Yin, 2014). Thus, the researcher can establish whether
the findings are significant or not (Eisenhardt, 1989).
Researchers use case study analysis to ascertain a research ques-
tion to clarify assumed causal relationships (Yin, 2014). Case studies
explore strategies and techniques within retrieved data and explain
how and to what extent CE-related activities are implemented into IR
practices, to enhance SD. Such studies are a convenient way to
observe companies' practices and provide a convincing way of
explaining such practices (Baxter & Jack, 2008; Eisenhardt, 1989;
Stake, 2005; Yin, 2014); with the increasing concern over energy and
water consumption, pollution, natural resource scarcity, and emission
ofGHGs, textile manufacturing companies have to face tremendous
social, economic and environmental challenges (Bueno-Garcia
et al., 2021; Bhuiyan et al., 2023; Busco et al., 2013; EC, 2015a,
2015b, 2015c; EU, 2019; Farrukh et al., 2022; Gunarathne, Lee, &
Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021; Gunarathne, Wijayasundara, et al.,
2021; Negash & Lemma, 2020). The research design entailed search-
ing for CE-related concepts in IR documents. We selected this source
because of the inclusion of reports that adhere closely to the IR guid-
ing principles, content elements, and fundamental concepts, aligning
with our theoretical framework. This multiple case study used inte-
grated reports samples for content analysis, and thematic analysis,
which is “a research technique for the objective, systematic and quan-
titative description of the manifest content of communication”
(Berelson, 1952). Notably, this technique can be used with either qual-
itative or quantitative data and allows organizing “the text of writing
into various groups or categories based on selected criteria” (Guthrie
et al., 2004, p. 287). In content analyses, frequency is usually calcu-
lated and used for measuring and communicating the relevance of the
subject matter (Krippendorff, 2004) and may help in evaluating
the amount of disclosure about a specific concept or group of con-
cepts (Milne & Adler, 1999). It is to emphasize that content analysis in
the field of sustainability has been already used and is recognized as a
reliable research method (e.g., Guthrie & Abeysekera, 2006; Milne &
Adler, 1999).
As described above authors also adopted a thematic analysis
approach used for data analysis that could be reliable to interpret find-
ings. Thematic analysis is described as “a method for identifying, ana-
lysing and reporting patterns (themes) within data” (Braun &
Clarke, 2006, p 79). The theme and patterns are the findings of related
data in the thematic analysis. Data within the tables and figures pre-
sented make the case studies more authentic and reliable, along with
the appendices containing additional data, all of which help to make
this study progressively more reliable (Eisenhardt, 1989; Eisenhardt &
Graebner, 2007). To guide the analyses more details are anyhow pro-
vided below (see Figure 3).
To this end, the authors created a specific codebook
(Neuendorf, 2017) (see Appendix A for more details). The codebook is
derived from the combination of main sources (IIRC main concepts —
retrieved from the IR Framework, IIRC, 2017, the Glossary of CE by
the US Chamber of Commerce (https://www.uschamberfoundation.
org/circular-economy-toolbox/about-circularity/glossary, different
authors' definitions, and experts' opinions). This list of terms is devel-
oped by the US Chamber of Commerce Glossary, the world's largest
business organization representing the interests of millions of busi-
nesses of all sizes, sectors and regions. Additional terms, selected by
the two researchers applying a basic brainstorming method
(Wilson, 2013), were added to enlarge the analysis of CE concepts.
The codebook aimed to aid in the development of more standardized
and established terminology for CE research and IR (see Appendix A).
F IGURE 3 Content analysis and thematic analysis process. Source; qualitative description study (Vaismoradi et al., 2013, p. 399).
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https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/circular-economy-toolbox/about-circularity/glossary
https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/circular-economy-toolbox/about-circularity/glossary
In both cases, we developed codebooks of words (content analysis)
and sentence-wise identification analysis (Thematic analysis), and
interpretation of the reporting pattern (Schilling, 2006; Vaismoradi
et al., 2013, p. 399). Content analysis and thematic analysis were per-
formed by using the software N-Vivo (used the Exact Matches
method) and according to a top-down process: the glossary (single
concepts, groups and/or categories of concepts) was defined ex-ante
(Schilling, 2006). These CE R principles recommend value preservation
options (Rs) for both customers and businesses, based upon R0
(refuse), R1 (reduce), R2 (reuse), R3 (repair), R4 (refurbish), R5 (reman-
ufacture), R6 (repurpose), R7 (recycle), R8 (recover) and R9 (re-mine)
(Reike et al., 2018). Additionally, Schroeder et al. (2019) identify the
links between CE practices and SDGs (see Appendix B). CE practices
offer the potential to make collaborations between SDGs, that is, con-
nections exist between CE practices and SDGs like SDG 6 (Clean
Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG
8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, innovation
and infrastructure), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), SDG
12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate
change), SDG 15 (Life on Land), SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 2 (Zero
hunger), SDG 14 (Life below water), and SDG 15, (Life on land), author
implants these practices together, no study has been made in this
sense [see Appendix B]. Appendix B presents the relationships among
IR capitals, CE principles and UN (2015) SDGs and discloses how
these connections have a relation (IIRC, 2017, p. 14, by Carol Adams;
Reike et al., 2018; Schroeder et al., 2019; Doni et al., 2019).
To select suitable companies for analysis, the author first investi-
gated the 2015–2019 records from the Knight Global 100 (with per-
mission, Knight, 2020) most sustainable corporations in the world
index (https://www.corporateknights.com/), ranking accessible by
World Economic Forum and available in Forbes. The authors consid-
ered primary source data from 2015 to 2019 that is publicly available
IRs within company websites operating within EU countries that dem-
onstrated transition into CE practices and presentation of IR and
found that only four garments European companies existed in the
topmost sustainable companies ranking (Knight Global 100) (see
Table 2), those selected were Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) [Sweden]
(https://hmgroup.com/investors/reports.html), Marks & Spencer
(M&S) [United Kingdom] (https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/
sustainability), Kering [France] (https://www.kering.com/en/
sustainability/) and Benetton [Italy] (http://www.benettongroup.com/
sustainability/). IR is a voluntary practice worldwide, except in
South Africa, where it has been mandatory since 2010 on a ‘comply
or explain’ basis for companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities
Exchange (Burke & Clark, 2016; Veltri & Silvestri, 2020). The research
does not include the COVID-19 period, for the reason to explore a
well-defined pattern and can be used to measure during and after
COVID-19 effects. (See Table 2 for Companies background).
5 | FINDINGS
As the study mentioned describing the research design adopted for
this study, the first step of the data analysis entailed searching the
Integrated Reports drawn up by the organizations included in our
sample with the N-Vivo software (Table 3).
In detail, Table 3 presents the results of the content analysis for
the M&S, as described study retrieved IRs, 2014 to 2019 from the
company website. It is noted that M&S was R2 (reuse) top words/
terms cited reference, secondly, R7 (recycling) and thirdly (R3) reduce
and less cited CE principle was R8 (recover), respectively, while the
trend of disclosing CE practices in IRs is continuously increasing.
Table 4 reflects that H&M IRs disclosing the CE-related
(R2) principle are more cited terms while the recover (R8) term is lesscited, even though in 2015 and 2019 H&M IRs increasingly disclosed
CE-related principles. Move forward to the Kering Company (see
Table 5).
Notably, the Kering Company most referenced with R principles,
for example, the reuse (R2), reduce (R1) and recycling (R7) are more
cited reference terms. In contrast, the Recover (R8) is less cited
according to word reference. Regarding, the year-wise, terms cited,
references were increasing, but the means of references and the SD is
less as compared with other M&S and H&M reports. Move forward to
Table 6.
Table 6 presents the results of the Benetton Company content
analysis of IRs. It can be seen that recycle (R7), reduce (R1) and
reuse (R2) is more cited terms reference as compared with other
CE-related principles while remanufacturing (R5) and recover
(R8) were less cited terms referenced in IRs. On the other hand, in
2019, Benetton Company disclosed more CE-related activities as
compared with previous years. This trend shows that the Benetton
Company is increasingly engaged in CE-related activities. Move for-
ward to thematic analysis for a more in-depth explore the CE-
related principle in IRs.
TABLE 2 Background information of four case study companies.
Company M&S H&M Kering Benetton
Industry Textile Textile Textile Textile
Reporting documents (mandatory/voluntary) IR (voluntary) IR (voluntary) IR (voluntary) IR (voluntary)
Turnover (sales) (2019) £10.7bn £21.43bn £13.7bn £1,230 m
Operating income (2019) £580.9 m £1.8bn £3.94bn £29.893 m
Employees (2019) 81,000 177,000 34,795 7,500
Products Garments Garments Garments Garments
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https://www.corporateknights.com/
https://hmgroup.com/investors/reports.html
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/sustainability
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/sustainability
https://www.kering.com/en/sustainability/
https://www.kering.com/en/sustainability/
http://www.benettongroup.com/sustainability/
http://www.benettongroup.com/sustainability/
The findings of thematic analysis from IRs disclosed the main
themes of the inputs, business activities, outputs and outcomes into
IR frameworks (IIRC, 2017) that integrated with capitals and how, and
to what extent, CE activities interacted with different capitals. It also
identified the sustainable practices utilized by these case study com-
panies (see Table 7).
Table 7 presents six capitals (Financial, Manufacturing, Intellec-
tual, Human, Social & Relationships and Natural Capital), which are
integrated into the IR frameworks as inputs to the business activities.
Financial capital in IR refers to keeping the product's lifecycle at
its best level by using different principles (such as reduce, reuse, recy-
cle and decreased water, energy, consumption, and GHGs emissions
TABLE 3 Content analysis of M&S Company.
Years R0 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 MEAN SD
2015 264 649 1,153 567 494 403 420 700 237 632 551.9 249.85
2016 275 635 1,234 545 456 386 403 657 241 681 551.3 270.58
2017 332 677 1,206 579 447 422 465 636 326 481 557.1 243.07
2018 365 728 1,307 632 514 448 469 746 287 754 625 275.11
2019 485 741 1,391 610 464 428 462 786 309 580 625.6 289.67
MEAN 344.2 686 1258.2 586.6 475 417.4 443.8 705 280 625.6
SD 79.53 42.047 82.93 30.923 25.091 21.275 27.006 55.375 35.709 92.287
TABLE 4 Content analysis of H&M Company.
Years R0 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 MEAN SD
2015 149 300 461 437 344 333 473 334 113 165 310.9 123.938
2016 177 306 456 417 340 306 467 318 135 184 310.6 110.723
2017 217 336 446 404 331 296 395 356 155 200 313.6 90.901
2018 224 380 540 337 303 269 348 370 163 218 315.2 101.243
2019 275 388 542 415 361 304 403 387 187 238 350 96.791
MEAN 208.4 342 489 402 335.8 301.6 417.2 353 150.6 201
SD 43.051 36.485 42.736 34.199 19.072 20.519 47.067 24.657 25.120 25.471
TABLE 5 Content analysis of Kering Company.
Year R0 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 MEAN SD
2015 105 116 73 58 68 47 48 65 67 90 73.7 21.927
2016 99 116 202 119 100 84 94 132 42 70 105.8 40.330
2017 134 159 267 169 139 112 140 173 50 110 145.3 52.877
2018 175 222 256 207 170 125 161 239 63 149 176.7 54.591
2019 284 396 230 174 166 141 142 303 143 265 224.4 81.962
MEAN 159.4 201.8 205.6 145.4 128.6 101.8 117 182.4 73 136.8
SD 67.854 104.572 70.001 51.971 39.271 33.162 40.938 82.654 36.127 69.216
TABLE 6 Content analysis of Benetton Company.
Year R0 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 MEAN SD
2015 23 666 76 22 16 8 19 25 16 56 92.7 192.122
2016 240 455 297 245 282 176 202 325 174 174 257 83.576
2017 270 493 335 262 322 202 237 358 191 184 285.4 90.246
2018 304 570 359 319 381 239 304 397 231 210 331.4 99.732
2019 258 601 403 352 361 249 258 472 238 259 345.1 113.372
MEAN 219 557 294 240 272.4 174.8 204 315.4 170 176.6
SD 100.203 75.479 114.297 115.601 132.617 87.396 98.218 153.245 80.644 67.098
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TABLE 7 Overview of IRs framework's six capitals for the case study companies.
Capitals Organization practices M&S H&M Kering Benetton
Financial Refuse (R0), reduce
(R1), reuse (R2),
Recover (energy R8)
Inputs:
[2017/2018 developed
community energy
fund to reduce
wastage plastic]
[greenhouse gas
emissions]
[installed renewable
energy, e.g., LED
lighting in stores]
[decrease in water
consumption (�10%)
and reuse strategy]
(outputs and
outcomes):
[UK renewable energy
generation and
increase ROI energy
efficiency.
Plan A 2025]
[zero waste, remove
packaging, 3 million
garments reused
every year (2017 to
2025)]
Inputs:
[financial management
for cleaner
production]
[96% of renewable
energy solar energy]
[64% of water reuse
operations]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[20% reduction in
energy consumption
and save 4 million
euros per year from
electricity cost]
Inputs:
[reintegrated thinking
approach 13.7 billion
euros revenue]
[optimize investment
in organic growth]
[energy efficiency
measurement and
smart sustainable
stores]
[60% renewable
energy resources]
Output and outcomes:
[2.8 billion euros
increase by this
approach in 2018]
[8% reduced water
consumption and
14% reduced water
pollutants]
Inputs:
[green campus,
reduction in energy
consumption]
[use of green energy]
[65% of stores use
certified renewable
energy]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[�5% electrical
consumption, �10%
natural gas
consumption, 36%
restructured sale
points]
Manufacturing Reuse (R2)
Repair (R3),
Refurbish (R4),
Remanufacture (R5)
Recycle materials or
secondary materials
(R7)
Inputs:
[90% cotton recyclable
and from a
sustainable source]
[circular packaging
strategy] [unsold
product refurbishes]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[sustainable
production]
[recycle all products
(2022 plan A)]
[key raw materials
used for the
integrated
ecosystem]
[products and
packaging redesign]
Inputs:
[shift from linear to
circular model]
[In 2019 production
process reduce,
reuse and recycle]
[92% of waste recycled
in 2018 circular
garments designs]
[product reuse and
recycle circularity]
Outputs and
outcomes:
[35% to 45% of textile
product-by-product
through recycling]
[50% to 60%
reusables products,
70% of products are
recycled]
Inputs:
[renewable production
of textiles, leather
products